How to Grow A Rose
by Siriusly9
Summary: Add water, sunlight, and a little crazy with a side of danger. Rose/Scorpius. Hate/Love.
1. Into the Future

**Hello! Thanks for checking out this NextGen fic. A little info: It starts with a flashforward and then the second chapter will start from first year. There will be one chapter for each of the early years until we get to the main story. Enjoy! - Alex**

* * *

The man smelled like tuna and something sour. It wasn't the most unpleasant thing Rose had ever smelt, but it made her nose tingle and certainly didn't the help situation. Rose spat blood out of her mouth, still feeling dizzy from being hit over the head. She most likely had a concussion and the irrational part of her was worried about losing some brain function right before end of year exams.

Rose nearly laughed to herself, but her ribs ached and she worried that they were broken. _Laughing equals bad when you have cracked ribs._ It was so stupid of her to be worried about exams at a time like this, but it helped take her mind off of the fact that she might not survive. If she worried about her brain capacity for exams that meant that she would be alive to take them. _At least they're only sixth year exams and not N.E.W.T.s_ , Rose consoled herself.

She shifted, trying to get herself upright so that she might be able to see more and figure out where her captor was holding her. _Bad idea!_ Her head screamed as her vision dimmed when she tried to sit up. Rose let out a choked noise and blinked rapidly, trying to think of anything but the pains and aches all over her body.

So far she had only seen one man. She was sure he had to be one of the radicals from Eastern Europe. They had made their way through Europe and to Great Britain so it couldn't be a coincidence that just a few months after those radicals arrived in England, Rose had been kidnapped from Hogwarts. Rose's eyes pooled with tears are she thought of Hogwarts.

The last thing she remembered was fighting with Scorpius. She sniffled and tried to take even breathes, knowing that crying would only make her headache worse. _Scorpius._ Rose wiggled her toes as she thought about the blonde prat. Of course she was upset about the Slytherins bullying Hufflepuffs and she didn't see how easily he could cast it aside. She shouldn't have been surprised that he didn't care about what happened to other houses.

 _I wonder if anyone's noticed._ Rose thought wistfully. She didn't even know how long she had been unconscious for. After she had stormed into the night had Scorpius come after her? Had he realized that she had just disappeared into thin air? That scenario was unlikely as she had just finished reaming him out and she doubted he would care about her whereabouts.

 _CRACK!_

Rose jumped as a door slammed somewhere in the structure. She tried to contain her heavy breathing. Maybe if she pretended to be unconscious he wouldn't touch her. _Or maybe he'll hurt you because you are unconscious._ Rose squeezed her eyes shut as the man's footsteps thundered nearer.

When the footsteps were no more than five feet away, she heard him say in a gravelly voice, "Right where I left you." His rough voice passed over her like a whip. She was right: his voice had a distinct Eastern European accent, but she couldn't tell if he was from Russia, Ukraine, the Czech Republic… she knew it wasn't German. He took a few steps closer until his boots were next to her face. Rose tried not to let out a sob. She kept her eyes closed. He chuckled and the sound made Rose want to puke. "I know you're awake." He sounded pleased.

Rose slowly opened her eyes and let out a shriek when she saw his boots hovering over her face. Her immediate response was to thrash away from having her face smashed in, but her body protested as soon as she made a sudden move. She was too slow to escape his boot and as soon as she tried to move away, the bottom of his shoe came down on her throat.

"Please," she coughed as he pressed on her throat, not hard enough to crush her windpipes, but enough to make it difficult to breathe. "What do you want?" Her voice cracked.

He bent over and rested his arm on the leg that was pinning Rose down. He sneered, bearing his yellow teeth. "I just wanna have some fun." Tears leaked out of the corner of Rose's eyes as she squeezed them shut and tried to pushed his foot off of her throat. "Do you wanna play with me?"

Rose gasped as he put more pressure on her throat. "Let me go!" She tried to yell, but it came out as more of a gasp.

"Why would I do that?" He chuckled as Rose continued to grab at his ankle. "You seem like a good time."

"What do you want?" She repeated.

He raised an oily brow, "Sorry, I couldn't quite make that out."

He was playing with her and Rose realized that there was nothing she could say to make him let her go. "Are you with the radicals?" She choked out, avoiding his soulless eyes.

"What a silly name," he shook his head. "We are the Masters."

Rose glared at his forehead, still avoiding his eyes. "You are master of nothing." Admittedly, taunting the man who could kill her with one step wasn't the best idea.

But he didn't seem angry. Instead, he laughed her off. "Little girl, you know nothing of life. You think that school keeps you safe… but I caught you like plucking a fish out of a stream." Rose couldn't stop the tears from flowing at the sound of his slimy voice. She was afraid, but she was also frustrated that she couldn't seem to do anything.

"They'll come for me." Rose promised weakly.

He stared at her with his unfeeling eyes for a moment and then took his foot off of her throat. She immediately gasped for air and rolled away from him, ignoring the sharp pain in her side. She crawled away from him as fast as she could. She saw him pull out his wand. Rose tried to get behind the scattered items on the floor—a wooden table that had some muggle tools on it, bales of hay…

Rose came to the realization that they were in a shed or a barn of some sort.

"They do not even realize that you are gone," the man said in a way that sounded like a pleased snarl. "And even when they realize, how will they find you?" Rose breathed heavily and pressed against the wooden wall.

"What are you going to do to me?" Rose asked, putting all of her strength into her voice.

The man shrugged carelessly, "Maybe I will take you back to the Masters. Maybe I'll keep you for myself. Maybe I'll see how much Rose Weasley is worth to the Ministry." Rose hated the idea of her parents being blackmailed with her life. She didn't want anyone to worry about her which was silly because of course they were going to worry.

"How long…" Rose couldn't finish. _How long ago did you take me?_

"Only about twelve hours."

Rose's bottom lip trembled. Had they realized that she was gone yet? Would Scorpius feel guilty about making her run off into the night alone? For once, Rose couldn't find it in herself to blame Scorpius. She wasn't sure if it was because she thought she was going to die but Rose felt guilty about the years of fighting with Scorpius. There were times when they fought just to enjoy a good argument and other times when they had simply pushed each other too far.

All of that seemed trivial now.

"How long are you going to keep me alive?" Rose asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer.

"That depends on you." He raised his wand slowly until it was leveled at Rose.

Rose knew there was no point in shrinking away but she couldn't help but flinch as he pointed his wand at her. There was nowhere to hide. "What do I have to do?"

The man laughed evilly, sounding thoroughly amused. "Endure."

" _CRUCIO!_ "

And then all Rose felt, heard, and tasted was unimaginable pain.


	2. First Year and First Meetings

**First Year**

Rose and Albus boarded the train after their other cousins, exciting but nervous about being away from home for the first time. And of course, Albus being so nervous about the sorting didn't make Rose feel any calmer. With each step his took, anxiety poured out of Albus.

"Where should we sit?" Rose asked and got a noncommittal shrug in response. They got out of the way other several older students looking for a compartment. Rose wrung her hands anxiously. "What if we can't get a compartment?"

"Let's just pick somewhere to sit," Albus suggested.

"We could go look for James and—"

"No!" Albus practically shouted. "We cannot sit with James!" Rose shrunk away from his loud voice. She should've known that was a bad suggestion. They walked by a compartment with one girl and Rose asked if Al wanted to sit there. He shrugged.

"C'mon." Rose pulled him towards the compartment. Rose slid the door open and the girl with light brown hair with auburn highlights looked up. "Do you mind if we sit here?"

The girl blinked and then grinned precociously. "Please do! I would've hated sit alone for the whole ride." She moved her pack of the seat next to her and Rose sat down. Albus moved across from them and flopped down, looking thoroughly disheveled with his crazy hair, messy clothes, and slouched form.

"I'm Rose and this is Albus."

"I know," the girl smiled brilliantly and then blushed. "I mean, I've heard horror stories about your older brother James. Not that I stalk your family in the newspapers." She rambled, looking slightly embarrassed. "My sister's told me about your family," she said finally.

"Who's your sister?" Albus asked curiously.

"Eliza Jacobsen."

Rose and Al's eyes widened knowingly. Albus burst out laughing, "I bet you've heard stories! Freddie's told us horrifying tales of the things James has done to that poor girl. Merlin, your sister hates James from what I've heard." Rose gave the girl a sympathetic look.

The brunette smiled. "She certainly complains about him a lot." The small girl flipped her straight hair over her shoulder and some strands caught the sun, making some streaks look reddish-brown.

"What's your name?" Rose asked.

"Penny."

"Eliza is in Gryffindor, right?" Rose asked. Penny nodded. "Are you hoping to be in Gryffindor as well?"

Penny shrugged, "I don't really have a preference. It might be nice to be in a house where people know me, but I think I'd do fine in any house." Albus looked slightly scandalized by her carefree attitude.

"Are you nervous?" He asked, sounding rather nervous himself.

Penny raised an eyebrow, "Why would I be nervous? I'm excited! Think of what being sorted tells you about yourself. Each house has qualities associated with it and I'm rather curious to see what my traits are." Albus got paler and paler with every word Penny spoke. Rose felt guilty for finding his pain amusing.

"But what if you're put in Slytherin?" Albus whispered like he was saying a bad word.

Rose sighed, "Don't mind Al." She told Penny. "He's just nervous because James has been teasing him all summer about being put in Slytherin. Didn't your dad have a chat with you on the platform? He said it didn't matter." Rose told him insistently. Albus shrunk into his seat.

"I know, but…" Al's voice drifted away as he looked towards to door. Rose and Penny followed his gaze.

A white-haired boy whom Rose recognized to be Scorpius Malfoy was passing by and when he noticed the trio staring at him from the compartment, he gave them a sneer and then continued walking with an air of superiority.

Albus looked discouraged, "See? Slytherins are horrible."

Penny rolled her eyes. "That's one boy from one family. Don't be so narrow-minded as to think that all Slytherins are horrible."

"But they're sneaky and deceptive—"

"And Gryffindors are brave." Penny said wryly, "but not all Gryffindors are good people. Look, all the qualities that the houses stand for are necessary and have worth. The qualities themselves aren't bad, it all depends on how people use them."

Albus and Rose stared at Penny in amazement. "Are you sure you don't want to be a Ravenclaw?" Al asked suspiciously. Penny laughed charmingly.

"I told you, I haven't a preference really."

Albus didn't seem pleased with that answer. "Well, I want to be in Gryffindor."

"Why?" Penny asked in a way that seemed like she was challenging him in an understated way.

Albus's stammered, "What—well, because that's where my family is!" He said indignantly once he gathered his wits.

"Didn't you just say that your family has been teasing you all summer?"

Rose stifled a smile as Penny outsmarted Albus. Al didn't appear to have an answer for the sassy eleven-year-old.

Penny said, "You shouldn't feel bad no matter which house you're sorted into. The hat knows where you belong and you can decide what to do with your life even if you are put in Slytherin." This is the argument that everyone in their family had been giving Al ever since he started worrying about the sorting, but he actually seemed to listen to Penny. "Also, just because cunning and slyness might be the dominant traits of Slytherins doesn't mean they are brave or loyal as well. And just because Gryffindors are brave doesn't mean they aren't smart or cunning."

Albus stared at Penny for a moment, then ruffled his hair and said, "Aunt Hermione would love you." He didn't seem pleased by this statement.

Penny looked thrilled, "She's my hero!" Then she looked shyly at Rose, "sorry, you must get that all the time."

Rose looked proud of her mum. "Actually, I'm normally with this dunderhead," she motioned to Albus who was trying to kick off his shoes, "and people are more focused on his dad than they are on my mum." Which didn't seem fair to Rose because she had heard enough of her father's stories to know that neither Harry nor her dad would be alive if it wasn't for her mum.

Penny looked pleased, "Well, I think your mum is amazing."

Albus snorted, "Unless you get on the business end of one of her lectures."

Rose let out a long breath, "Yeah, I can't even count how many times she's yelled at me for joking about house-elves."

Albus stretched up in his seat, "Oh, I think I see the trolley! I'm starving!"

Rose waiting nervously with the crowd of other first years. It was extremely embarrassing standing in the front of the Great Hall with all the other students watching from their seats, but it gave Rose a chance to look at the magical expanse of the Great Hall. The ceiling was full of stars and dancing lights in a dark blue sky. Each stone looked as if it had been hand carved and carefully places among its brothers creating a room of beautiful architecture.

Lost in her own thoughts, she barely heard Professor McGonagall say, "Penelope Jacobsen."

Rose pulled herself from the inside of her head and watched with anticipation. She hoped that she and Penny were sorted into the same house. It would be nice to have a friend outside of her family in her house. And if Rose and Penny were sorted into difference houses, the likelihood of their new friendship growing stronger was small.

The hat was placed ceremonially on Penny's head and remained there for a minute before shouting, "GRYFFINDOR!" Gryffindor students erupted in applause and Rose saw Penny rushed to her cheering sister's side. Rose had been waiting to see which girl James was obsessed with and was not disappointed. Eliza had light brown hair with blonde streaks and soft features, but looked like she could give as could as she could get. She saw James try to get Eliza's attention, probably to congratulate her on her sister's sorting, but Eliza promptly ignored him.

Rose watched James continue to call to Eliza, earning him a weary look from several Gryffindors. Just as the cheering died, McGonagall could move to the next student, James yelled, "ELIZA!" not realizing that the hall was going to be silent. Everyone turned to look at him, the only person still standing, and gave him a tired look. Eliza was beat red and trying to cower behind her friends.

McGonagall gave James a withering look as he slowly shrunk into his seat, looking unabashed and like a typical cheeky, scrawny third year.

Rose was embarrassed to be related to James and looking at Albus, so was he.

A few minutes later, after more first years had been sorted, McGonagall called, "Scorpius Malfoy."

Everyone seemed to hold their breathes as Scorpius Malfoy, a skinny and lanky boy, climbed the steps slowly with purpose. He didn't look at anyone when he sat on the stool and McGonagall placed the hat on his head.

Rose expect the hat to cry out 'SLTHERIN!' as soon as the hat was placed on Malfoy's head. Apparently, McGonagall did as well because she reached out to take the hat off, but he hadn't been sorted yet. Each second that ticked on made Rose's heart thunder louder and louder. Scorpius appeared to be taking great effort to keep his face passive and unwavering as the hat spoke to him.

"SLYTHERIN!" The cry was so sudden, Rose jumped as the Slytherin cheered. Scorpius looked relieved as he stepped down from the stool and walked to the Slytherin table. The way he walked… one would think he was walking on water given the superior look on his face.

Albus was called up a little while later. Rose gave him a reassuring look as he tried to look brave as he climbed the steps. Several people let out 'hoots' and Albus turned red. Rose didn't even have to look to know it was James and Freddie and possibly Louis. When Al sat down, McGonagall placed the hat on his head and waited expectantly. The whole train ride, the whole summer really, Rose had been calming Albus down, but now that the moment arrived she was sure that she was as nervous as he was.

Albus swallowed thickly and Rose wished she knew what the hat was saying. She bit her lip in anticipation, sure that they wouldn't be separated. Whichever house he was in, she would have to be in as well and since she was going to be with Penny that meant that Albus had to be in Gryff—

"SLYTHERIN!"

Rose blinked, thinking she must've heard wrong. She looked around and the Slytherin table looked just as shocked as Rose felt and then someone started clapping awkwardly. Whoever started clapping was a godsend because there was no much tension in the Great Hall and silence did not help. Rose looked at James, who was staring at his brother with a dumbstruck look.

Albus started to come out of his stupor and he meandered reluctantly over to the Slytherin table that was still clapping for him. McGonagall did her best to keep her face stern, but Rose could see the surprise in her eyes. She did a good job of maintaining her composure and moved on to the next students. All the sudden Rose felt very nervous about her sorting.

She was sure she wouldn't be in Slytherin, but she didn't want to be separated from Albus.

"Rose Weasley!" McGonagall hollered.

Rose swallowed and tried not to choke on her own breath as she moved up the stairs. McGonagall gave her a steely look and when Rose sat down, the professor placed the Sorting Hat on her head.

"A Weasley!" The hat cried and it was startling to hear its voice. "You breed like rabbits," the hat murmured and Rose blushed, but couldn't exactly disagree with that statement. "Smart… yes, very smart. But brave… hmm… and loyal. Now, let's see. I think… GRYFFINDOR!" Rose let out a quick breath that she didn't even realize that she had been holding. McGonagall pulled the hat off her head and Rose started walking towards the cheering Gryffindors.

On the way down the steps, Rose caught Al's eye and he gave her a small smile. Rose took a deep breath then joined Penny at the Gryffindor table. "Way to go Rosie!" James hollered and then winked ineptly at Eliza who continued to ignore him.

Rose looked back towards Al as the last student were called up, but he was talking with Scorpius Malfoy. Rose's eyes narrowed as she saw Albus grinning at the pointy-faced boy. _All summer…_ Rose huffed. _All summer he's been worrying about being sorted into Slytherin and when he is… he just up and abandons everything he believes in!_ The bad reputation of families like the Malfoys were the reason that Albus hadn't wanted to be in Slytherin in the first place and now he was all chummy with Scorpius!

Penny must've sensed her disappointment and said, "Don't worry, Rose. You'll see Al all the time." Rose put on a good face, but she wanted to say that wasn't what she was worried about. Rose was worried that being sorted into Slytherin would change Albus. If he was hanging out with Malfoy and alike how could it not change him?

Rose glared at Malfoy, hating that this pureblood maniac was going to take her best friend away from her.

"Will your parents be angry with you?" Scorpius asked as he unpacked his neatly folded clothes. Albus flicked his wand and sent his clothes flying to the dresser where they jammed themselves into the drawers.

Albus shook his head, "My dad will be fine with it. I'm worried about my brother and Rose though." He admitted and thought about Rose's face after he had been sorted into Slytherin and she into Gryffindor. She looked like he had betrayed her despite her comforting smile. Her eyes looked sad and lonely.

"Sorry," Scorpius said awkwardly. He wasn't half as bad as Albus had imagined, but the blonde boy still seemed to not know how to handle emotion well. "Why would your cousin care?"

Al sighed, "She was just hoping that we would be in the same house. But it's easier for her than it is for me. At least she still has the rest of our family… and Penny." Albus had come to terms with the fact that he was in Slytherin over the past few hours, but he still felt terribly alone. Other than Scorpius, no one had really spoken to him, not even the other four boys in the dormitory.

Al noticed that they hadn't said much to Scorpius either, which was a surprise. He expected Scorpius to be a Slytherin prince or something.

"Who's Penny?" Scorpius asked as he stowed his trunk under his bed.

"A girl we met on the train." Albus tried to force his drawers to shut but they were overflowing with unfolded clothes. Scorpius gave Al an amused look as he watched Al struggle with the fact that he hadn't bothered to properly fold his clothes.

"At least she has a friend," Scorpius coughed. "I don't think she likes me very much."

Al looked up in surprise. "Penny?"

Scorpius shook his head, his perfectly combed hair not moving an inch. "No, your cousin. Rose." He said her name hesitantly as if he was afraid to speak the devil's name for fear she would appear.

"Why would you think that?" Albus wasn't denying it, but he wondered why Scorpius thought so.

"I saw her glaring at me in the Great Hall." Scorpius said drily.

"Oh." Albus bit his lip. "I'm sure she wasn't glaring specifically at you—"

"She was." Scorpius didn't sound particularly upset. "It's fine. I'm used to it and she doesn't strike me as a particularly open-minded person."

"She's not so bad," Albus said half-heartedly. Rose had said over and over that it wouldn't be so bad if he was sorted into Slytherin, but now that it had actually happened… he knew things would change between them. "You two just have to get to know each other." Scorpius raised his eyebrows, giving Albus an amused look. "Assuming we're friends, that is." Albus added quickly, not wanting to seem like he was latching on Scorpius without invite.

Scorpius still had that cool, amused look on his face as he said, "Considering no one else will talk to us, I think we had better be friends." Albus barked out a laugh.

"Why won't anyone talk to you?"

Scorpius shrugged, "Ever since the war, Slytherin has been trying to rebuild its reputation and they probably think I'll come along and ruin it." Albus felt pity for his new friend. He couldn't imagine what it must be like to have everyone be against him. It was exactly the opposite for Albus and his family.

"Well, you could stand to be a bit friendlier." Albus teased.

Scorpius gave him a cold look.

"I just mean that you could act a bit more like an 11-year-old and less like a 40-year-old man."

"I don't act like an old man!" Scorpius snapped indignantly. "Just because I like to dress well and—"

"—and speak formally and fold your clothes…"

"That's just common sense." Scorpius shook his head. "Look at your mess of a wardrobe." He motioned to the overflowing dresser that Albus had given up on a few minutes ago. "If you had bothered to fold your clothes…"

"On second thought, you and Rose should never become friendly. You both a such Nagging Nellies. If you were ever in a room together I think there would be an explosion of massive proportions."

Scorpius stuck up his nose, "It's unlikely that we'll ever be in a together room long enough to realize the depths of our hatred."

Albus scoffed, "You can't know that you'll hate each other! You've never even spoken."

Scorpius gave Albus a grim look. "I don't need to know her to know that we could never get along."

Albus sighed in defeat. Rose was still his cousin and his best friend and Scorpius was his only school friend. They had to get along. Scorpius surely wasn't a bad as Rose thought and Rose wasn't as stuck up as Scorpius seemed to think.


	3. Second Year

**Second Year**

"Can you two just give it a rest for two seconds?" Albus hissed at Rose as she methodically shelved thick textbooks.

Rose didn't bother looking at him as she said, "He's a bully!" She knew it was pointless to argue with Albus about Scorpius. It was the two of them against the world and Scorpius was dragging Albus down.

"No, he isn't! You're prejudiced." Albus snapped under his breath.

Rose spun around, her fiery hair nearly whipping Albus across the face. "I am not! It barely November and you've already had two detentions! You get in fights—"

"We don't start them!" Albus argued indignantly. "We just finish them. You can't blame us for defending ourselves."

Rose shook her head and cradled the books to her chest in a defensive position. "You two are getting a horrible reputation!"

Albus rolled his eyes, "We don't do anything that James or Freddie or Teddy haven't done a million times. The only reason you're getting on my case is because I'm in Slytherin and they're Gryffindors so obviously they get a pass, but I get scolded."

"I scold James and Freddie too!" Rose said defensively. At least she was sure she did. Although she couldn't remember ever being so hard on her other cousins. "They're older than me! And they're not cursing people up and down the halls!"

"We haven't ever cursed someone! Just a few jinxed and hexes that my mum taught me. And they were saying rude stuff about Scor."

Rose finished shelving the books and then turned to give Albus her full attention. She couldn't believe he was talking so glibly about hexing other students. What had Scorpius done to him? "And I don't suppose you could've just walked away?" Rose challenged. She understood that Scorpius and Albus were not the most popular boys at Hogwarts, but did that mean they could just hex anyone who insulted them? Rose certainly didn't think so.

"If we had walked away, they would've seen that as weakness and kept harassing us."

"'They would've seen weakness'," Rose repeated, "Who are you? Who cares about looking weak?"

"We have different priorities Rose," Albus snapped. "Get over it! You're only concerned about looks, so don't be a hypocrite! You think if I defend my friend it will make me look like a thug or a deviant, but I'd rather that than be a crappy friend. If people were attacking me and Scorpius didn't defend me, what would you say?" And then Albus dropped a heavy book on a table and stomped away.

Tears clogged Rose's throat. She quickly ducked her head and swiped under her eyes in case anyone was watching. She hated fighting with Albus and the fact that she turned into a monster when it came to Al's relationship with Scorpius. _Is he right?_ Rose wondered. She always assumed that Gryffindors were on the right side of things, so even if James or Freddie pulled a stunt like Albus it somehow wasn't as bad.

"You know," a familiar voice drawled. Rose whipped around to see Scorpius Malfoy leaning against the DADA bookcase, his skinny arms folded, and an arrogant smirk on his face, "…if you keep pushing against Albus, eventually you're going to succeed in pushing him away."

Rose folded her arms indignantly. "Have you ever considered that I'm not pushing him away, you're pulling him away?"

Scorpius tilted his head and stared at her unwaveringly. "Have you considered that it's both?"

Rose opened her mouth to argue and then realized what he said. "Wait, you're admitting that you're trying to split Albus and me apart?" Damn, she wished Albus hadn't stormed off so he could hear the full extent of Scorpius's treachery.

"I'm trying to save him from a spiteful bint that clearly doesn't care about his feelings." Scorpius said mildly.

Her mouth flopped open in a way that Scorpius seemed to find amusing. "You can't be serious!"

"I am. You clearly don't care how much it hurts him that you aren't accepting that he's a Slytherin and he's my best friend. It's been more than a year. Let it go." He said slowly and Rose gawked at him.

She couldn't believe Scorpius actually thought that she was the problem. "And I'm trying to protect him from a 'friend' who is dragging him through the mud!" Rose whisper-yelled. "You get him in trouble and make him fight—"

"You're angry because he doesn't follow the same rules you do. That doesn't mean he doesn't have morals. We aren't doing anything morally wrong, but—"

"Albus hexed someone! He never would've done that before you!"

"He was defending himself… and me!" Scorpius shouted as he pushed himself away from the bookcase. "I know you can't possibly understand the concept of friendship, but some of us aren't just in it for our image or our record. It's ironic, because I sound more like a Huffy, loyal, and you sound like the Slytherin, only in it for yourself."

Rose let out a dramatic gasp. _Slytherin?!_ She could imagine no greater insult. "I—I… I'm trying to protect Albus from ruining his reputation!"

"Maybe you should worry more about what he wants versus his reputation." Scorpius spat.

"Maybe you should worry less about your hair products and more about expulsion!" She said without thinking. It wasn't her best response, but the amount of gel he used in his hair was ridiculous and made his face look even more severe with all his hair pulled back. It made him look even more like a rat.

Scorpius's eyes widened. "My—my hair?" He gave her a scrupulous look. "Seriously? That's the best you can do?"

"No girl is ever going to want you. If your reputation is in the trash you should at least put a little effort into your looks. Otherwise you'll have nothing going for you." She sneered, feeling momentarily triumphant.

Scorpius huffed, "I don't need a girl! You might go through your day thinking about the best way to get noticed, but I don't! And if all girls are like you, I doubt I'll ever have interest in them. You really should do something about your hair, Copper Top." He said with an evil glint in his eyes.

 _Copper_ — _Copper Top? Did he just…_ "Did you just call me Copper Top?" Rose yelled. "My hair is red!"

"And orange," Scorpius smirked.

"At least I don't look like a skeleton!" She snapped, referring to his delicate frame and pointy face.

His eyes flared and he got toe-to-toe with her and she realized with relish that she was slightly taller than him. "At least I don't look like a carrot." Not to mention she was more muscular than him.

"You are the most arrogant—"

"You're selfish—"

"—and pesky boy—"

"—you think of no one—"

"—I have ever had the displeasure—"

"—but yourself!" Scorpius shouted.

"—of meeting!" Rose screamed, fighting back the need to deck him with a heavy book.

"ENOUGH!"

Rose and Scorpius jumped as Madam Pince's high-pitched voice shrieked over their shouting.

The old woman was hobbling towards the pair as quickly as she could with a mean and horrified look on her face. Her face was so red Rose feared it might explode. "Fighting in the library! SHOUTING! SCREAMING! Absolutely unacceptable! Disturbing the students!" Pince sniped. Rose's breath caught. She had never been reamed out by a teacher, or anyone, at Hogwarts. She glanced at Scorpius to blame everything on him and saw that he looked as though he was going to say something smart-arse.

Rose was sure he was going to point out that Madam Pince was in fact yelling while she reprimanded them for yelling. He didn't get the chance before Pince snapped, "Out! Out of the library!" She started shooing them with her fragile hands. Rose and Scorpius backed up towards the door as Madam Pince kept waving her hands around. "And don't come back for a week!" Pince shrieked.

Rose gasped as the library doors were slammed in their faces. She stared at the heavy wooden door a few moments and then turned to glare at Scorpius. "You got us banned from the library!"

Scorpius rolled his eyes, "I think we can agree that it was both of our faults."

"You should've just left well enough alone," she hissed, wondering why he even approached her in the first place.

Scorpius didn't seem to have any energy left. "I just want to be civil. All of us… you, me, and Albus." Rose stared at him, biting her lip. "You must admit that neither of us are actively trying to hurt Albus… can't we just agree that we both contribute important things to his life."

Rose gave him a weary look and then said, "Fine. I suppose… it might be important for Albus to… express himself." She didn't think it was worth it for him to get in trouble, but she wouldn't say that. "And I will never like you… but I suppose I don't have to fight you."

"And I appreciate that you're just trying to keep Albus out of trouble." Scorpius said reluctantly.

They stared at each other discerningly for a few moments. Rose didn't like his eyes. They were so hard and cold, the gunmetal grey color too harsh for Rose's taste. She knew girls liked boys with bright eyes, blue or green or whatever, but Rose always found the bright colors a bit too much and the same seemed to be true for Scorpius's eyes. She would take a nice warm (slightly boring) brown over exotic grey any day.

"Rose? Scorpius?"

Rose jerked out of her haze and saw Penny standing a few meters away from them.

"What happened?" Penny took one look at their faces and knew something was wrong.

"We got banned from the library for a week." Rose said bitterly.

Penny's eyebrows shot up. "You did you do that?"

"We got in a shouting match," Scorpius said, unabashed. "Over Albus."

"Are you two still treating him like a piece of meat?" Penny sighed and shook her head. "If you keep pulling at him, you're going to rip him in half. Not to mention it's like a weird love triangle."

Rose gawked, "He's my cousin!"

"And my best friend!" Scorpius protested.

"I don't judge," teased Penny. "Anyways, Gould was looking for you Scorpius."

Scorpius adjusted his tie and gave Penny a nice smile, which Rose thought looked super weird on him. "Thanks." Then he strutted away and Rose glared at his retreating figure, wondering how the heck Scorpius Malfoy had gotten her to agree to play nice.

"I do wish you and he would get on."

Rose gave Penny an affronted look. "As if we could every get on! He's a first class jerk and we've only agreed to be civil so that Albus won't hate us. And I highly doubt it will last. I can't wait for the day that I say I told you so."

"Rosie!" A charming voice called out.

Rose let out a long exhale. She did not feel like speaking with her cousin Dominique at the moment. Dom was the most beautiful girl in Hogwarts and made Rose feel like a toad in comparison.

"Rosie!" Dom flung herself towards Rose and Penny and managed to look graceful doing so. "Merlin, is it true you got in a fight with Al and got kicked out of the library?" Dom asked excitedly, looking like fairy with her shimmery hair floating around her face and her soft skin practically glowing.

"How did you hear—"

Dom scoffed, "Albus ran into Freddie, who told Lorcan and then Lorcan told Lucy so of course Lucy told me to go find you and yell at you for being stupid. Then on the way hear I heard some fourth years gossiping about how you had been kicked out of the library. You know you can't do anything without everyone in Hogwarts knowing. And everyone watches you and Scorpius when you're together."

"Why does anyone care about what happens with Scorpius and me?" Rose balked.

Penny laughed, "Because you two are like a soap opera."

Rose scrunched up her nose. "That's silly."

"It's completely silly," Dom agreed, "which is why it's so fun to watch."

Rose gave her cousin an exasperated look. She couldn't believe that Dom was a sixth year, yet seemed to lack all maturity. "I can't wait till the lot of you are out of Hogwarts."

Dom gasped dramatically, "You love us! Don't lie!" Rose did love her family, but sometimes they were so much work. Rose always felt like she was under a microscope, not just because her family was close, but because her family was famous. Every time she and Albus got into it, Rose felt like the entire family split into sides and it was humiliating to have it happen in front of the entire school.

Penny gave Rose a sympathetic look, but shrugged, "I think it would be nice to have a big family. I only have one sister and one cousin, you can't imagine how boring family dinners can be." Dom and Rose both looking longingly at Penny.

"It must be nice," Rose sighed.

Dom snorted, "A boring family dinner? I can't imagine such—"

"JAMES! Stop following me!"

All three girls' heads whipped around just in time to see Eliza Jacobsen, Penny's sister, trying to get away from James Potter. Dom shook her head like this was nothing unusual and Penny let out along breath looking sympathetic towards her sister.

"Why don't you want to come to Hogsmeade with me?" James demanded petulantly.

Rose, ever the peacemaker (except for with Scorpius), started going to James. She knew how intimidating and hard-to-handle James could be and she was used to dealing with him. Rose couldn't imagine what it must be like for Eliza, although she had a pretty good idea of what James was capable of thanks to the similar stunts over the years.

"James…" Rose started to say but her voice was quickly drowned by yelling.

"Because I don't want to!" Eliza shouted, going toe to toe with James. She was only about two inches short than him so he certainly wasn't physically intimidating, he was just loud and obnoxious. "Why can't you just accept that?"

"Why doesn't everyone just—"

James interrupted Rose abruptly, "I can't accept that you're shutting me down without knowing me! You won't give me a chance—"

"I do know you!" Eliza screamed, her auburn hair looking like burning branches around her head. "You're arrogant and obnoxious and everything I never want to be around! I do not want to get to know you and you have given me no reason for that opinion to change," she finished with a hiss.

James and Eliza stood there, both huffing and looking angrily at each other. Rose was afraid to move for fear of startling either one of them in another explosion. After a few moments of complete silence, Eliza spun on her heel and walked away from James without looking back. Rose marveled at how a fourth year as dainty and fairy-looking as Eliza could knock James Potter on his butt with a couple strings of words.

"James…"

Before Rose could say another word, James strutted away, muttering under his breath.

Rose let out a long breath and looked back at Penny and Dom, the latter was watching the end of the scene with amusement. Penny bit her lip, "I should go talk to Ellie. James makes her a little…. crazy."

Rose gave her an understanding look and then Penny took off, running in the direction that Eliza had disappeared to. Dom grinned, "That poor girl. I remember when they first struck up their little… argumentative relationship."

"What happened?" Rose asked quizzically.

"I think it was halfway through first year and apparently during potions, Eliza and her partner accidentally cooked up an explosive potion and blew up their station. Needless to say, James was hooked from that moment and he thought the best way to charm her…" Dom words started to be disrupted by laughs, "… was to create an explosion at dinner right next to her. He thought she liked excitement." Dom was nearly crying at this point and Rose felt even worse for Eliza.

"Dear Merlin," Rose muttered.

"And James has never really let go of his belief that she likes the excitement even though that first explosion was clearly just a potions mistake and not Eliza actually trying to be destructive." Dom shook her head.

Rose rolled her eyes, "I hope no boy is ever interested in me if that's what love looks like."

"It'll happen sometime, Rosie."

"Well, I hope my first boyfriend isn't as idiotic as James."

"You're setting a low bar, James is pretty idiotic so it shouldn't be that hard to find a bloke slightly smarter than him," Dom chuckled, tossing her silvery hair over her shoulder. "Did I tell you about my new boyfriend? He's a Ravenclaw, so smart, and he's so tall…" Rose tuned Dom out, mostly because she knew Dom would have a new boyfriend next week so it didn't really matter if she knew all the juice about this one.

Instead, Rose became a little lost in her head as she thought about romance. It seemed like such a foreign concept but she was almost thirteen and next year she would be able to go to Hogsmeade. What if no one wanted to go with her? What if she just went with friends? What if all her friends had dates and she was stuck going by herself?

"Rose, breathe!" Dom snapped Rose out of her haze. "You're turning purple."

"What if I never have a boyfriend?" Rose wrung her hands nervously.

Dom looped her arm through Rose's, "Don't get caught up in the drama. And dating really isn't as bad as James makes it look. You have time to worry about all that nonsense…"

"That's what I thought, but next thing I know it'll be Hogsmeade weekend and I'll be alone—"

Dom laughed and pulled Rose closer, "I didn't get a date to Hogsmeade until halfway through fourth year and that was considered early! I promise that you have time." Dom looked sideways intently at Rose. "Now, I have to go meet up with some friends, but I'll catch you at dinner." Rose muttered a goodbye and watched Dom float down the hall looking like an angel. Rose consoled herself by thinking about how she was so much smarter than most of her family and she didn't need her cousins' veela looks.


	4. Third Year

**Third Year**

Scorpius watched in amusement as James tried and failed to speak with Eliza. Hogsmeade was even better the second time around and it was a magical experience to go without parental supervision. It was mid-December and that meant snow and holiday decorations littered across the store fronts.

James tripped over a bulky sixth year whom Scorpius recognized to be a Hufflepuff beater. James had been chasing after Eliza, of course, and hadn't been watching where he was stepped and nearly knocked over and tray of licorice wands and the bulky beater.

Eliza used to the opportunity to escape with her amused friends and Scorpius watched her blonde head disappear from Honeydukes. Albus plucked a chocolate frog from Scorpius's bag and bit its head off before it could jump. "I wonder," Albus said around the chocolate, "if James has any idea how much she hates him."

Scorpius shrugged, thinking probably not. He vowed a long time ago that he would never act the fool like James did. "You owe me a chocolate frog." Scorpius told Al drily and the dark-haired boy devoured the remainder of the candy amphibian.

"Nuh uh," Al shook his head, "I showed you where the kitchens are."

"But you waited nearly two and a half years!" Scorpius exclaimed. He had nearly punched Albus when he discovered the treasure trove his best friend had been hiding. "And I know you have more secrets," Scorpius gave Al a discerning look. Albus didn't seem to notice Scorpius's annoyance because he was too busy filling his arms with treats.

"Sorry mate, family secrets." He shrugged as if that explained it all and Scorpius adjusted his collar. A group of third year Ravenclaws was hovering near the two and Scorpius raised his hand hesitantly when he recognized his second year potions partner. Tanzy was cute and every third year thought so. Scorpius had been excited when they had been paired together last year but embarrassed because she seemed a bit nervous around him.

"Hullo," Scorpius smiled as she walked over to them.

Tanzy's dirty blonde curls bounced as she strode forward and she lifted a delicate hand to wave. She was objectively the cutest third year girl with her perfect hair, soft features, and warm smile. "Scorpius! I feel like we haven't spoken in months." She flashed Albus a quick smile which he returned briefly before focusing on what else he could afford to buy. Tanzy was simply all-around a kind person and she made Scorpius feel comfortable which wasn't normal.

Scorpius rubbed the back of his neck, "Well, we haven't really talked since last year."

Tanzy shook her head, "And isn't it a crying shame? I've been meaning to pair up with you in DADA one of these classes, but my friend always grabs me first. Anyways, I'm glad I bumped into you." She pushed and silky curl out of her face. Her chocolate brown eyes danced when she smiled.

"Me too," Scorpius said and then they looked at each other for a few moments.

Tanzy let out a bubbly laugh, "I nearly forgot how quiet you are."

Scorpius shrugged, "Don't have a lot to say, that's all."

Albus choked out a laugh and Scorpius realized that his friend had actually been listening. "Unless you're talking about Rosie." Scorpius's face heated up at the mention of She-Who-Must-Not-Be-Names. Was it a tad extreme comparing a third year Gryffindor, the daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley, to Voldemort? Possibly, but the redheaded spitfire was as close to evil as Scorpius could imagine. Albus carried on, not noticing Scorpius's darkening face, "You have plenty to say about Rose." Tanzy raised an eyebrow and gave Scorpius an amused, but questioning look.

"Oh? And what does Scorpius Malfoy have to say about Gryffindor's golden girl?" Tanzy teased lightly. Scorpius could feel the heat crawling up his neck. He wanted to rant about what a bint Rose Weasley was and how she was a witch (the bad kind) and how it was her life's mission to make Scorpius miserable. Sure, they had brief moments where they got along, usually after Albus threw a fit and they both felt like making amends with him, but that never lasted long.

Scorpius wanted to explain what a wrecker Rose was, but he also didn't want to lose his temper in front of Tanzy. She was so sweet and he was afraid seeming him in the mood Rose often put him in would send her running. It took him great pains to hold his tongue.

Unfortunately, Albus decided to answer for him. "Scorpius absolutely hates Rose and she hates him. I've tried to get them to quit fighting, but they refuse." Albus sighed dramatically. "They'll have an argument and then all Scor can talk about his what a—"

"Albus!" Scorpius snapped and then recomposed his features and gave Tanzy an apologetic smile. He wasn't sure if he was apologizing for Al or for losing his temper or for both. "It's not as bad as all that." Those words tasted like vinegar. "We just don't see eye to eye." He said diplomatically.

Al snorted and nearly dropped half of his load of candy. "I wish you could be that level when speaking with Rosie." Scorpius's teeth clenched and he had to work extremely hard not to punch Albus.

Tanzy didn't seem to care that Scorpius was killing Albus with eyes. She laughed off their comments in a carefree way that Scorpius had to admire. "You two are so funny," she shook her head with a giggle. "Anyways, I should get back to my friends. Are you two heading up to the castle after this?"

Scorpius shook his head. "Al and I are going to the Shrieking Shack… you could come…" Scorpius offered hopefully. Tanzy looked back at her friends and then back to Scorpius.

"I'm not sure if my friends who want to go… it's a bit frightening, isn't it? But I hope you have fun and maybe I'll see you around." Tanzy said brightly and Scorpius wished Tanzy could've come, but he wouldn't want her to be too terrified to go in. Then they would all have to turn back because he couldn't very well leave her.

Scorpius nodded slowly, not wanting to seem very enthusiastic about the promise of seeing her again. "Yeah, sure… I'll see you around." He smiled as she walked back over to her friends. Her dirty blonde haired swished pleasantly and his eyes floated down to her hips which also swayed as she walked.

When he looked up, he found Albus giving him a dry look with one eyebrow raised.

"What?" Scorpius asked stupidly. It was completely obvious why Albus was looking at his friend like an idiot.

"You could've been a little more discreet," Albus muttered.

Scorpius's cheeks turned red. "I dunno what you mean…" his voice drifted off as he saw a flurry of red hair sweep into Honeydukes. It was strange that there was one person with reddish hair outside of the Weasley/Potter family and she managed to become best friends with a Weasley. Although Penny's hair was a tamer and subtler auburn than most of the Weasleys', it still looked exotic compared to the usual blondes and brunettes.

Rose on the other hand… exotic seemed like too tame a word for her hair color. Scorpius strongly disliked Rose, but he had to admire her hair even when it horribly clashes with her red cheeks. It was amused when her entire face turned red like a tomato and it usually happened because of Scorpius, which he liked to tease her for. Scorpius and Rose were similarly unlucky with their pale skin, especially being teenagers with spots, but at least Scorpius didn't have red hair to match his skin when it became blotchy.

Scorpius was so caught up in staring at—or analyzing—Rose's hair, he didn't notice that Albus was waving Rose and Penny over. He saw Rose hesitate when her eyes landed on him, but she plastered a smile on her face and walked confidently around a couple other visiting students. Scorpius hated her confidence, the confidence that came from a lifetime of people telling you how amazing you were and how many possibilities were laid in front of you.

He resented that he never had any of that. It was almost crippling how small Scorpius felt sometimes, how small the weight of his family name made him feel.

"Albus!" Rose came to a sudden halt, pulling Penny after her.

"Scorpius," Penny greeted him, knowing that Rose wouldn't. "How's your visit going?"

Al shrugged, "Nothing too interesting. We did see Louis get the bad end of an experimental prank… thank you, Freddie." Scorpius's mouth tilted up at the visual memory. "What've you two been up to?" Penny lifted a shoulder and let it fall.

"We stopped and got a butterbeer—"

"—and we've spent the last two hours stocking up on sweets." Scorpius drawled, giving Albus and his armful of treats a pointed look.

Penny grinned at Al, "We were headed to the Shrieking Shack, but Rose wanted to check in and make sure all the good stuff wasn't gone." She motioned to the treats disappearing from the shelves. Scorpius's eyebrows shot up. He didn't think Rose would want to go to the Shrieking Shack. Weren't girls supposed to be afraid of places like the Shrieking Shack?

Rose sniffed and bit her lip, "Well, are you two planning on going up to the castle after this?"

Albus shook his head and a chunk of his black hair fell in his eyes. "Nah, we were gonna go up to the Shack as well."

Rose immediate reaction was to shake her head, but before she could verbally protest Penny smiled brightly at Al and Scorpius and said, "We should go together!"

"No!"

"No!"

Scorpius and Rose glared at each other. Scorpius didn't want to spend any more time with Rose than necessary, but as he glanced at Albus, he saw the disappointment on his friend's face. Albus didn't look like he was going to argue, he just looked down like a kicked puppy which was almost worst.

Scorpius had grown accustomed to Albus admonished him and Rose, but recently he simply looked dejected when Rose and Scorpius started bickering and it was actually more of a deterrent than trying to force them to get along.

Rose sniffed and looked at Al's armful of candy. "You were going to carry all that to the Shack and then back up to the castle?" Scorpius's eyebrows sank low as he recognized that tone in her voice. It was the _you're so stupid and I'm superior_ tone to which Scorpius had grown quite accustomed and he also knew that wasn't the end of her lecture. "Don't you think it would've been better to go to the Shack and then stop at Honeydukes on the way back to the castle?"

Scorpius pressed his lips together to stop from growling. After a deep breath he said, "It's not really that big of a deal." He hoped she would just leave it—

"But you're making extra work for yourselves!" Rose protested and Scorpius saw Penny's shoulders drop.

Albus shrugged, "I'll get a bag at checkout."

"But you still have to carry everything!" Rose said indignantly. "Also, do you really need that much candy?" Scorpius couldn't help but let out a groan. He knew that tone in her voice and the impending lecture wasn't something he was eager for and it wasn't something she could help. Rose just always had to be right and she couldn't hold it in.

"We're going to share with our roommates," Albus retorted and Scorpius nearly rolled his eyes. There was no way Albus was sharing any of that with anyone. Rose either didn't notice that Albus was lying or didn't care. But she did make an annoyed face at the mention of their _roommates_. She did every time she was reminded that Albus was in Slytherin… like the mention of their _roommates_ who also happen to be in _Slytherin._

"Wipe that look off your face, would you?" Scorpius snapped.

"Guys—"

Rose cut Penny off, "What look?" She demanded, her cheeks heating up in a way that horribly clashed with her hair.

"You look at us like we're trash just because we're Slytherin!" Scorpius growled just as Albus tried to place himself between Rose and Scorpius. Rose started to protest, but Scorpius simply scoffed. "Don't try to deny it! Every time you're reminded that we're not _precious Gryffindors_ , that we're Slytherins, you get a dirty look on your face."

"Just stop!" Penny shouted, making the entire store come to a halt. Several students gave them, Scorpius and Rose, weary looks. It wasn't exactly a surprise that the pair were fighting—they were always fighting—and when they fought, people knew to duck and cover because it could get rough.

Rose took a threatening step forward, not taking her ever off of Scorpius even when Penny tried to grab her. "Do you want to know why I look at you like you're dirty?" She said slowly, her voice going lower than it ever had. Her mood went from crazy-upset to quietly angry which was far more frightening. "It's not because you're a Slytherin." She shook her head, laughing quietly. And then she pinned him with a threatening look. "It's because you're a rat-faced slimy person. And that doesn't have anything to do with your house… it's you." Her words were spoken so poignantly, with such venom, Scorpius was momentarily caught off guard.

Honeydukes had gone silent so everyone had heard what Rose said. The back of Scorpius's throat burned and he knew Rose was probably on the brink of tears.

"Rose…" Penny whispered.

Albus snapped out of whatever haze he had been in and yelled, "You know what Rose? You're just as horrid to him as he is to you. You're judging him because you don't like his personality? Well, when you get like this, I don't like your personality but I don't chew you out because sometimes you have a bad attitude!"

"Weasley! Potter! Malfoy!"

Scorpius jumped at the sound of Lucy Weasley's voice. The Head Girl was stalking up to them with a furious look on her face and Scorpius could practically hear the lecture forming in the back of her brain. He had heard it plenty of times before, from multiple Heads, and it was always the same.

Lucy gave to a halt in front of Rose and Scorpius and their friends. Rose and Scorpius both seemed to be waiting for the yelling and the reaming, but Lucy pinned them with a hard look and her mouth stayed set in a thin line. Her critical glare made Scorpius want to fidget.

"Detention. Saturday night for three weeks."

Rose gasped and Scorpius's eyes widened.

"Lucy, you can't!" Rose protested, looking more frightened than Scorpius had ever seen her.

Lucy's head snapped towards Rose and she made a noise that sounded like a growl, "Rose Weasley, I have excused a lot from you and Scorpius over the past few months…" she took a deep breath, "but we're nearly through with third year and you two can't seem to grow out of this childish feud! Report to Professor McGonagall to before your detention next Saturday to find out what your punishment is."

"What?" Scorpius blinked. "Shouldn't our punishment be decided by our Heads of House?" He knew Slughorn would be far more lenient than McGonagall.

"Yeah," Rose nodded in agreement. Scorpius figured Rose was afraid of losing the teacher's pet slot and would rather face the music from Longbottom rather than McGonagall.

Lucy shook her head aggressively, "No, you're both in different houses and I think it would be good for you two to suffer through your punishment together." Scorpius glanced at Rose and he was sure her horrified expression matched his. Lucy started away before either of them could gather their wits enough to respond.

Rose, Penny, Scorpius, and Albus stood in a stupefied state for twenty-three seconds.

"You got us detention!" Rose's angry voice broke through Scorpius's haze.

He couldn't help but gape at her, "Are you kidding?" He shook his head aggressively. "We have detention because you can't mind your own business! Why do you always have to control everything? What's wrong with getting a ton of candy every once a while? Why are you so uptight?!" He didn't give her a chance to respond and he didn't look back as he stormed off.

Scorpius couldn't believe how arrogant that Rose Weasley was. She and Scorpius were both at the top of their classes, all of the teachers loved them, and they were both on track to be prefects. She was just… just arrogant. Logically, Scorpius knew it wasn't really about his last name, but sometimes it felt like that.

"Scorpius!"

He let out a huff and ignored Albus.

"Slow down!"

Scorpius weaved between the crowds of people who were all getting ready to end their day in Hogsmeade. Just as he was about to disappear around a corner, a hand clapped onto his shoulder and spun him around.

"Albus…"

"Look!" He cut Scorpius off. "I'm sorry that Rose was being a buzzkill today. It's not your fault." He said slowly and Scorpius blinked at his best friend. Suddenly a weight was lifted off of Scorpius's shoulders. He hated what a horrid person he turned into around Rose, but he knew he was justified in defending himself.

He wasn't worried about getting in trouble or hurting her feelings (he knew she didn't have real feelings). No, his biggest fear was that if he ever pushed Rose too far, Albus would have to choose between them… and he would choose Rose. Scorpius always assumed that Albus would choose family and eventually, he would lose Al.

So it was a huge relief to know that Albus would stick by him.

"Thanks," he muttered and leaned against the brick wall of the Three Broomsticks. He wanted to close his eyes and just sag to the ground, but that might be a little too obvious of a display of defeat. Albus leaned next to Scorpius and folded his arms.

"I guess this means we're going to skip the Shack?"

Scorpius let out a long breath. "How am I supposed to do detention with her? For three bloody weeks starting tomorrow night!"

"Just don't speak to each other."

It should've been that simple. No talking meant no arguing. But for Rose and Scorpius it was never simple and he couldn't imagine being in a room with her for hours and just not talking. They could fight with their eyes if they weren't allowed to talk and there was no way they could be in the same room and not talk.


End file.
